Trans fat consumption linked to diminished memory in working-aged adults
November 18, 2014
Science Daily/American Heart Association
Trans fat consumption is adversely linked to memory sharpness in young to middle-aged men. Men under 45 years old who ate higher amounts of trans fats, which are found in processed foods, had significantly reduced ability to recall words. Further studies need to determine whether these effects extend to women under 45 years old.
"Trans fats were most strongly linked to worse memory, in young and middle-aged men, during their working and career-building years," said Beatrice A. Golomb, M.D., Ph.D., lead author and professor of medicine at the University of California-San Diego. "From a health standpoint, trans fat consumption has been linked to higher body weight, more aggression and heart disease. As I tell patients, while trans fats increase the shelf life of foods, they reduce the shelf life of people."
Golomb and her coauthor studied adults who had not been diagnosed with heart disease, including men age 20 or older and postmenopausal women. Participants completed a dietary questionnaire, from which the researchers estimated participants' trans fat consumption. To assess memory, researchers presented participants with a series of 104 cards showing words. Participants had to state whether each word was new or a word duplicated from a prior card.
They found:
Among men under age 45, those who ate more trans fats showed notably worse performance on the word memory test. The strength of the association remained even after taking into consideration things like age, education, ethnicity and depression.
Each additional gram a day of trans fats consumed was associated with an estimated 0.76 fewer words correctly recalled.
For those eating the highest amounts of trans fats, this translated to an estimated 11 fewer words (a more than 10 percent reduction in words remembered), compared to adults who ate the least trans fat. (The average number of words correctly recalled was 86.)
"Foods have different effects on oxidative stress and cell energy," Golomb said. In a previous study, we found chocolate, which is rich in antioxidants and positively impacts cell energy, is linked to better word memory in young to middle-aged adults. In this study, we looked at whether trans fats, which are prooxidant and linked adversely to cell energy, might show the opposite effect. And they did."
Science Daily/SOURCE :http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/11/141118105406.htm